News Releases

Commander Alexander Grant of the Canadian Navy will speak at the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University of Newfoundland on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Cmdr. Grant’s speech begins at 7 p.m. in Hampton Hall and the media is invited to attend.

“We are greatly looking forward to Cmdr. Grant’s appearance at the Marine Institute,” said Glenn Blackwood, executive director, MI. “He has a wealth of experience working in demanding and challenging environments, which makes him well suited to speak with MI faculty, staff and students, especially the Naval Cadets enrolled in MI’s Marine Engineering Technical Training Program and Naval Combat Systems Technical Training Program.”

Cmdr. Grant was the commanding officer of the HMCS Toronto for the past two years and commanded the ship during its two recent deployments to Northern Canada. In August, 2008, and August, 2009, HMCS Toronto sailed to Nunavut for Operation Nanook, one of three major sovereignty operations conducted every year by the Canadian Forces in Northern Canada.

Cmdr. Grant first joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1981 as an Officer Cadet at Collège Militaire Royale in St-Jean, Que, before transferring to the Royal Roads Military College in Victoria, BC, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and oceanography in 1986. In 2004, he earned a Diploma in National Security, Strategy and Policy and Joint Military Operations from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

While speaking at the Marine Institute, Cmdr. Grant will focus on the role of the Canadian Navy in Arctic sovereignty and security. Cmdr. Grant will discuss many topics, including the year-long ice-free route of the Northwest Passage, conflicting claims of sovereignty over northern lands and the ability of the Government of Canada to react to a crisis in the country’s most isolated and thinly populated region.